Harness attachment.



PATBNTED MAY 23., 1905.

A. s. RUDOLPH. HARNESS ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1904.

UNITED. STATES Patented May 23,1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW S. RUDOLPH, ()F CARMI, ILLINOIS.

HARNESS ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 790,594, dated May 23,'1905.

Application filed September 22, 1904. Serial No. 225,462.

To all whom it may 0070067711.

Be it known that 1, ANDREW S. RUDOLPH, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Carmi, in the county of White and State of Illinois,have invented a new and Improved Harness Attachment, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

. secured to the strap a.

My invention relates to a harness attachment, and is especially designedfor use in holding up the shafts of a vehicle, although it is to-beunderstood that it may be employed for many other purposes.

In the present constructions of harness the shafts are held by strapswhich have been wound around them or through which the shafts have to bepassed. Either of these operations consumes considerable time in theharnessing of horses; and it is the principal object of my invention toprovide means for holding the shafts so arranged that the shafts can beattached to it by a very simple operation, thus avoiding both of themanipulations mentioned above.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding partsin both the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a practical embodiment of myinvention. Fig. 2 is a central sectional viewth-ereof, showing in dottedlines a second position of the parts.

A strap afor supporting the shafts is turned back upon itself, thusproducing a loop a, in which the shaft is to be placed and by which itwill be supported. The end of the strap is preferably provided with somemeans for securing it in this position, such means being represented byan eye (4 formed of wire or any other suitable material.

6 represents a plate which may be employed for convenience, and it isintended to be firmly Upon this plate when used or upon the strapispivoted a hook 0. This hook is preferably formed of resilient materialand is provided with a loop 0', in which the eye 0/ of the strap may beheld.

' In the present form the hook is pivoted in curved ends 6' of the plateand the upper portion 0 of the hook is held in raised position by meansof projections Z2 upon the plate Z). It will be readily understood,however,

that these two features could be replaced by others and that the plate 6could be dispensed with without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

The hook '0 being movably mounted with re spect to the shaft andpreferably pivoted, it will be readily understoodthat upon placingtheloop a around the bottom of the shaft and drawing the eye a up to apoint above the shaft the end 0 of the book may be thrust through theeye and the strap will be held in the position shown in Fig. 1 even ifthe hook c is not secured at b or in any equivalent way. To provide forthis, the loop portion 0 is made long and depending from the point atwhich the hook'is pivoted and the hook is bent backwardly at 0*, so thatwhen it assumes the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 the eye a canbe securely held at the bottom of the loop 0 without danger of beingdisengaged accidentally'by any ordinary usage. Itis desirable, however,that the book be secured in the position shown in Fig. 1,'and for thatpurpose fastening devicesas, for example,b are preferably provided. Theplate 6 is also preferably provided with an offset 5 upon which ismounted a hook 6, preferably integral with the plate and adapted toreceive the eye (4 as shown in Fig. 1. With this hook in addition to thebook 0 it will be observed that the eye is securely fixed and that therewill be no danger of its becoming disengaged in use. By making the hookresilient and in one piece the portion will readily snap into positionbetween the projections and be held by its own resiliency againstmotion. This arrangement will do away with the strap extending from thebelly-band and wrapping around the shaft. It will also result inconsiderable saving of time, as well as the necessity of going from oneside of the horse to the other in order to get the shafts into theloops. It may be easily attached to any set of harness, and it can beused with all modifications which are at present known.

While I have illustrated and described one Having thus described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Aharness attachment, comprising a strap having a loop for supporting ashaft, a hook movably mounted with respect to the strap, and havingmeans for connecting it with the loop, and additional means for holdingthe loop.

2. A harness attachment, comprising a strap having a loop for supportinga shaft, a resilient hook pivotally connected with the strap, and meansfor securing the hook in fixed position.

3. A harness attachment, comprising a strap having a loop, abodily-movable hook for supporting the loop, and means detachable fromthe hook for holding the hook in fixed position.

4. A harness attachment, comprising a strap having a loop, a movablehook for supporting the loop, and means for holding the hook in fixedposition, said means comprising a pair of projections connected with thestrap on opposite sides of the hook.

5. A harness attachment, comprisingastrap having a loop, a hook pivotedto the strap and adapted for supporting the loop, said hook comprisingtwo resilient wires, and means for holding the hook in fixed positionnear the strap, said means comprising a pair of projections adapted toengage the opposite sides of said resilient Wires.

6. The combination with a strap having a loop, of a plate secured to thestrap outside the loop and supported by the strap, a stationary deviceand a movable device both on the plate, for supporting one end of theloop.

7. The combination with a strap having a loop, of a plate secured to thestrap outside the loop and provided with a hook for supporting a part ofthe loop, and additional means for supporting the loop.

8. The combination with a strap having a loop, of a plate secured to thestrap outside the loop, and a resilient hook pivotally mounted on theplate, said plate having means for securing the hook in fixed position.

9. The combination with a strap having a loop, of a plate secured to thestrap outside the loop and provided with a hook for sup porting the endof the loop, and a hook pivotall y mounted on the strap, also capable ofsupporting the end of the loop.

10. In a harness attachment, the combination of a strap having a loopnear the end thereof and an eye in the end of the loop, a plate securedto the strap at a point outside the loop and provided with an integralhook extending therefrom and adapted to engage said eye, a second hookpivotally mounted upon the plate and having a depending portion alsocapable of engaging said eye, and a resilient portion extendingtherefrom and capable of assuming a position parallel with the plate,said plate being provided with projections capable of receiving saidlast-mentioned portion of the hook between them and holding the hookagainst pivotal motion.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW S. RUDOLPI'I.

Witnesses:

W. A. BALL, AUBURN KIsNnR.

